May 2004 Occupational Employment and Wages — 2005-05-26

Retail salespersons and cashiers were the two largest occupations in the United States in May 2004, with about 4.1 and 3.4 million wage and salary workers, respectively, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor. Other occupations with more than 2 mil- lion workers were general office clerks; hand laborers and material movers; registered nurses; waiters and waitresses; combined food preparation and ser- ving workers, including fast food; janitors and cleaners, except maids and housekeeping cleaners; and customer service representatives. Among these large occupations, registered nurses had the highest average hourly earn- ings--$26.06. For the other large occupations, average hourly earnings ranged from $7.40 for combined food preparation and serving workers, includ- ing fast food to $14.01 for customer service representatives. (See table 1.) Healthcare practitioner and technical occupations such as specialist physicians and dentists accounted for 13 out of the 15 highest-paying detailed occupations in May 2004.